My Lady, My Angel
by Gummy Faberry
Summary: Quinn and Rachel have been besties since they were little. Falling in love with your best friend is not the hard part. The hard part is always the classic decision. Whether to stay as friends or to tell the truth with the risk of losing all...
1. Chapter 1

Quinn barely felt nervous. It's true. She was the Honor roll-natural talent; she was the head cheerleader-family inheritance; she was rich-family inheritance; she was beautiful-family inheritance; she was a bitch-naturally useful weapon; but she also had friends-didn't know why. That's why she seldom felt nervous, which was also why she could count on her bare hands the times she actually did.

* * *

The first time she felt nervous when she first laid her eyes on the most beautiful girl that she had ever seen. She stared at the brunette who was laughing on the swing with amaze and open affection.

Then she felt nervous again when the angel with silky hair approached her and said, "Hi, I am Rachel. Nice to meet you."

She swallowed, eyes dropping from her face to her extended hand. She reached out to the other girl, not sure whether she wanted more to take her friendly hand or to trace the defined cheekbone of her sun-kissed face.

She gingerly settled for her hand and managed to shake it properly without showing too much of the sudden rush of heat that burning her face.

She was about to say something, but her thoughts went blank after seeing the other girl's genuine grin.

She tried again and nothing. Then she realized that she might shake the other girl's hand for too long to be propitiated, so she dropped it.

"I am sorry, Rachel," said Quinn awkwardly.

Rachel smiled. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me your name, Angel," said the brunette.

Quinn's face burned a bit more, probably from the radiating heat from the sun. "Lucy," Quinn finally managed to let out after the brunette patiently waited for a century. "That's my name."

The smile on the other girl's face grew even wider. "That's a beautiful name, Lucy." Quinn suddenly wanted to hear her new friend say her name every day from now on.

* * *

Quinn hit puberty first. Of course, she was older. More boys (literally half the school) chased after her. When Rachel pointed out this fact to her best friend, Quinn just shrugged.

Rachel was picking out her books for the next class when she felt the shift in the air.

The thong parted like the red sea to welcome their new head queen who was escorted by her seconds in commend. The brunette's breath hitched when she saw the familiar yet unfamiliar blonde marching toward her.

The blonde's hair pulled back to a flawless ponytail, hand on her hips.

More importantly, the blonde was in the red-and-white uniform that marked the respect and honor in this high school.

Quinn nodded to Santana and Brittany before Santana narrowed her eyes at Rachel and back to Quinn with an eye-roll, but the other two girls left without a word.

Quinn connected her eyes with Rachel's before her shoulders relaxed almost unnoticeable, and she continued to gracefully walk toward the brunette.

"Hi," said Quinn with a soft smile in her eyes, reserved only for one certain brunette.

"Hi," said Rachel, a little breathy Quinn noticed.

"So?" asked Rachel, known how nervous the blonde was for the tryout for the head cheerleader.

Quinn joined the cheerleading since high school started, and it was her family legacy to become the head cheerleader. Rachel had no doubt that her best friend would be the head cheerleader one day, but the head cheerleader was usually a junior or a senior.

Quinn chucked kind-heartedly at the anticipation in her best friend's eyes. As she was about to reply, the blonde suddenly changed her mind.

Quinn frowned a little and managed a sad shrug before she shook her head.

"Oh," said the smaller brunette. "Well, Quinn, you know you still have many chances the next year. It was Sue's lost to not choose you as the head cheerleader. I bet she would regret in no time, and you will…"

Quinn now was laughing.

Rachel frowned in confusion.

"Gosh, you are adorable."

Rachel pouted.

"That was exactly what Brittany said to Santana after Sue made me the head cheerleader."

Quinn watched in amaze as her best friend's face lightened up in understanding.

Rachel slapped the blonde's arm lightly for tricking her, but she eventually said, "Congrats, Quinn! You made it! I knew you would make it!"

Quinn smiled and watched the brunette jumped up and down in excitement.

Quinn really felt no difference, but she did feel special if Rachel thought so.

"You look good in your uniform. The title suits you," said the brunette, linking her arms with Quinn's. "Wow, now I felt special, too."

The blonde cocked her eyebrow to ask the obvious question.

Rachel blushed. "It was silly."

Quinn teased, "You cannot be possibly sillier than blushing like this."

Rachel pouted. Quinn blushed at her urge to kiss the brunette's lips.

The blonde coughed the embarrassment away before she replied, "Okay, sorry, Rach. It was just too easy. So why are you feeling special too? I mean, of course, you are always special, but I am just saying"

Quinn knew she started rambling, and Rachel's warm smile calmed her. "The head cheerleader was walking me to my class."

"Come on, you knew I had to go that way simply because we share the same class."

"So smooth." Rachel rolled her eyes. They were such a bad influence on each other.

"Hi, roses are red, violets are violets, and would you do me the honor of being walked by me to your class?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes for a moment before answering, "Only if you asked nicely, my lady."

"Really, Rach? My lady?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that? That's your caller ID on my phone."

"Nothing, my munchkin."

"Quinn! Intentionally referring to my vertical challenge might severely compromise our blooming friendship."

"Whatever you say, my shortcake."

"Stop being Santana."

"Yes, my hot Jew."

"And Quinn? I don't like how people stare at you now like you were a piece of meat."

"Said the girl who wears sinful short skirts all the time."

* * *

"Rach!" Quinn put out two tickets out of her pocket. "Wanna check out the new movie this coming Saturday?" The blonde smiled smugly after seeing the joy in her bestie's chocolate eyes.

The brunette smiled shyly, chewing on her lower lip. "Quinn, we have been over this. You said that you would let me buy our next movie last week!"

The blonde pretended to think for a moment before she reasoned, "Well, you bought me chicken nuggets and diet coke during the movie and the vegan ice cream during our shopping Sunday, so… I guess we are even."

Rachel pouted, and the blonde suddenly had the impulse to kiss the pout away again. Afraid she could do something she would later regret, Quinn quickly turned her head to the sideway to alter her eyes away from her favorite pair of orbs.

Surprisingly, she was embraced in a warm bear hug by the shorter brunette. Instinctively, Quinn wrapped her arms around the brunette's shoulder, as if it was the most natural reaction in the world.

"Quinn, you are the best. I am so so soooo lucky to have you as my best friends." Rachel's voice was smothered a little since her face was buried in the blonde's chest. Quinn smiled softly.

Yea, people at school might freak out if they knew the head cheerleader was capable of smiling warmly but screw them. If they said one word, they would die without a word. However, why was Quinn suddenly saddened by the brunette's confession for some unknown reason?

"So do I, Rach," Quinn replied, shaking off her sadness in her best friend's hug. The blonde guiltily sniffed the brunette's hair, her body relaxing and enjoying the intimate contact with Rachel. Not creepy at all.

There was a comfortable silence. How Quinn wished the time could just stop at this particular moment, yet Quinn wanted to keep creating more memories with the brunette. Quinn knew that Rachel would appreciate this silence as much as she did.

She was not the self-obsessed diva as everyone else thought, and she would be comfortable reading books with feet in Quinn's laps, which was something she would not tend to do with her other friends, Kurt or Tina.

Similarly, Santana would find reading books with Quinn in the Saturday afternoon boring, nerdy, and lame. Somehow Santana would find drawing and watching toy ducks in the pool with Brittany was the best way to spend the weekend.

Then the blonde found herself teasing the smaller girl. "So, is this a yes to the movie with me?"

Rachel giggled and replied with a shy nod. "Only if you let me buy you the next one." Quinn chuckled at the brunette's cuteness. "I am serious, Quinn. Stop laughing or I would be mad." Rachel put one hand on her hip and used the other hand to make her point across.

Quinn wondered how could someone be so adorable.

"Don't use that infamous eyebrow eye or that mischievous smirk, my lady. You know it wouldn't work."

God, she sincerely wanted to kiss her.

Rachel rolled her eyes, and Quinn knew that she won this argument, if there was an argument to begin with.

Rachel retreated from their embrace, and Quinn immediately missed the warmth radiated from the brunette.

"So," Rachel walked to the kitchen to fetch them both some water, "is it possible for you to be interested in having dinner with Ryan?"

Okay, that was a mood killer. Quinn moaned. No, again, come on. "Unless Ryan was some male-version of my beloved Rachel Berry, the answer is no."

Quinn mentally rolled her eyes at the brunette's growing interest in being the match-maker thing from the beginning of the semester.

Rachel handed Quinn a glass of water. Well, _her_ glass of water. Quinn had her very own glass with a donut drawn by some famous gold-star girl when she was 11 at Rachel's place. Rachel's was a glass with a music note at Quinn's place.

"Quinn, be nice," said the brunette. "The boy seems nice, and he adores you from the look he sent to you."

"Who the hell is Ryan?" The anger was probably directed to the fact that Rachel was in fact complimenting some stupid lame ass prick. _Yeah, haha, you cannot chide me when I am cursing mentally, Rach!_

"Language, Quinn. And to answer your question, Ryan is the captain of the hockey team. He led the team to win this year's regional, and he was the one went to your practice every time and sent your flowers."

Quinn seriously couldn't remember. Maybe there was some blonde, muscular boy sitting around Rachel when she was practicing in the field. However, her eyes only set on one particular diva who could unscrew the cup of the water bottle and handed it to the blonde in between breaks.

"I am not planning on dating any boys from this high school. I have school, cheerleading, and you, the diva, to worry about."

"Hi, you always said that. I will ignore the diva part. Your grades are perfect, so does everything else. With all that, you still managed to spend pretty much every single weekend with me. Therefore, you are totally capable of dating someone while managing everything else."

"If you don't want to spend the weekend with me, you could just say it, Rach. You don't have to be the matchmaker to get rid of me," Quinn snapped, but she immediately regretted her words after seeing the wounded expression on Rachel's face.

"Of course I would love to spend time with you, but it would be selfish of me to keep you all to myself. You are beautiful, talented, charming, and popular. I just want to see you happy. You deserve to have a life. You are single, attractive, and caring, so it's human nature for people to go after you. Since people were too afraid of you, they approached me after you threatened to cut Noah."

Quinn was smirking triumphantly when the diva was listing all the good qualities of her.

When she mentioned the boy's name, Quinn suddenly felt...bored. "So is that why some random strangers started to give me cards with my favorite quotes?"

Rachel suddenly became interested in the pattern on her skirt.

"Look, you have big dreams and you don't want to ruin them right? I have mine too. Before I reach that goal, I don't want to rush to date someone who I genuinely have no interest in. Besides, lots of them just fell for my face, my body, and my popularity," Quinn said with dismay.

Rachel touched her upper arm to comfort her. "You are more than just a pretty face, Quinn." Quinn cheered up a little by both the brunette's touch and words.

"Although you are for sure beautiful, and your body is worth dying for. Also from a professional and potential Broadway singer's perspective, I honestly think that your voice is pretty sexy," Rachel was pensive carefully before continued. "I do agree with you that you deserve the best, and none of the boys from our high school is good enough for you."

Quinn blushed a little and unconsciously chewed on her lower lip, which immediately drew the diva's attention.

"So what's your dream?" Rachel cleaned her throat as if she was trying to clean up the tension in the air.

_You?_ "To be honest, I actually don't know, Rach," said Quinn, shifting her eyes away. "But at least I know that I want to date someone I love."

"You sure will, Quinn," said Rachel sincerely.

* * *

One day she was watching TV in Rachel's house when the girl in her arms shifted. Yeah, she started to enjoy a bit too much of her intimate moments with her friend.

Was it natural to sniff your friend's hair? Was it natural to breathe heavily when your friend tickled you during games and then followed with heated staring content? Was it natural to cuddle with your friend and feed your friend snacks during weekends on a couch for movie times?

Quinn never asked Santana and Brittany, but she knew she would never do such a thing with her other friends. Rachel was the special one. She was the one that called her the angel, and she wanted to be an angel for the first time in her life: she wanted to be Rachel's guardian angel.

She felt nervous when the brunette hit puberty over the summer, and she blushed whenever she couldn't control her eyes to hold an eye-level conversation with the shorter girl. Rachel was the dreamy mix image of talent, passion, kindness, innocence, and sexiness. Then, of course, Rachel followed her dream, which had not changed since she knew the word "dream," and joined Glee.

Quinn then joined Glee, natural instinct. Not that Quinn would have wet dreams about Rachel singing or she would go wild after seeing the brunette's endless and toned legs.

When Rachel said that they needed more people to be qualified for the Regional, Quinn dragged her other friends along. For the record, Santana said no and roared in Quinn's face at first.

"We are friends, Q, and we all, well, probably only B, love you. If you want to tap that tanned butt, go for it. But I am not committing social suicide by joining the weirdo club. Also, it would kill my sexy time with Britt."

Quinn dangerously narrowed her eyes with hands on her hips. "First of all, Glee is a fun club with friendship, love, talent, and passion. Second, careful with your words about Rachel or you will lose your legs in your next practice. Third, you will join or..."

Santana was not backing down. "Or what? Barbie? Your bossy side only works for Berry."

"But San, Q would never be bossy to Rachel. She is always gentle and soft, like a puppy!" Brittany joined in bubbly, appearing out of nowhere.

Santana snickered at Quinn's burning face. "Yeah like a puppy, hahah!"

"Like you, San!" Brittany didn't get a chance to finish the sentence before Santana covered the taller blonde's mouth.

Quinn raised an interesting eyebrow.

Santana rolled her eyes, face one shade redder. She tried to appear indifferent and cleaned her throat. "So the decision is final. Britt and I would NOT join the Glee club."

"San, I would love to sing, and I want to dance with you! I love your voice!" Brittany pouted.

"Okay, bitch. We are in." Santana was immediately rewarded by a heated kiss from Brittany. "Yeah, San, you are the best!"

Santana grinned goofily and linked her pinkies with the taller blonde before walking away.

"Whipped," Quinn teased.

Santana shrugged and waved her hand over her head without looking back.

Quinn watched her best friends' backs and signed for unknown reasons.

**A/N: I have drafted almost the entire story. The story is short, but the plot can go both directions. I can either follow the original plot (how much I hate it) and twist it or go for a smoother and happier storyline. Please let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, found a way to deal with both ways. This story is more from Quinn's POV, and that's probably why some of you feel like Rachel's emotions are not shown as strong as Quinn's. Glad to see you all like it!**

Glee soon became one of her favorite or least favorite things at school. The good side of this club was obvious that she got to hear the future Broadway star sing her heart out.

The bad side came along with the benefit was that the annoying giant, Finn Hudson, kept stepping in Quinn's way. Literally and figuratively.

Finn became the new golden boy after Ryan Webster transferred to a private school in New York City, and the only reason why Quinn knew it was that Rachel talked nonstop about New York and anything related to that city.

Quinn was kinda jealous of that Ryan boy too. Ryan actually sent her postcards when he arrived in New York and invited her to come to visit him in New York. Quinn was not interested in going to New York to visit him, but she did admit that Ryan was gentle, sweet, and cute if you were into this type.

Now they were Facebook friends, and she was jealous when she saw his posts. Freedom, liberty, and girls holding hands and kissing while nobody would judge.

She couldn't wait to go to New York with Rachel, and maybe they could share a little apartment in their second year of college.

Quinn knew her parents were planning something with Rachel's dads and had argued for weeks to find the best spot in Manhattan for both girls to commute. Clearly, with constant traffic breakdowns in Manhattan, it might be hard for them to find a spot with a nice little apartment with an express subway line to both Columbia and NYU.

Hell, maybe she was the selfish one.

Now, Rachel and Quinn seldom spent weekends together. Quinn had cheerleading practice for Nationals, and she was also working towards National merit-based scholarships. Well, her family was rich, but she would like to have more savings to bring Rachel out for fancy dinners or weekend movies. Besides, she wanted to be independent, and NYC was expensive.

Meanwhile, Rachel was busying with Glee as the captain. Well, co-captain, but, who she was kidding, the giant was never the leader material. If Finn Hudson could be the quarterback of the football team of this school, it was not a mystery why they never made it outside the State.

Rachel kept giving them credits that Ohio was a strong state in general for football, but Quinn only rolled her eyes and then was given a speech on how rolling eyes might compromise her health in the future from the diva.

* * *

School works were harder, and they needed to start preparing for SAT, SAT subject tests, and different AP courses. They grew and shined in different circles and only had time to exchange some smiles in the hallway before waking to different classrooms.

Not to mention, they were paired up with different people to finish their glee duet assignments.

The possibly worst practice for Quinn would be the one that she paired up with Kurt. They barely tolerant each other due to their mutual friendship with Rachel.

The weekend before the duet assignment was due, Quinn was preparing for the AP Literature Test and knew well that Rachel might be preparing her audition for Tisch in the coming weekend.

When the doorbell rang, Quinn was both disappointed and surprised to see Kurt. "Hi, I thought we went over this. We just gonna practice individually and…"

Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically and held up one hand to stop her. "Save it. Trust me, the last thing I want at this moment is to come to your house. But my step-brother, aka Finn, was inviting Rachel over to our home, and I just cannot bear it. He begged me to leave to give them some space."

"He what?!"

Kurt shrugged.

Quinn couldn't believe the brunette never mentioned about going over to the giant's place.

"Explain it, Porcelain Doll. Or I will end you right here."

Kurt rolled his eyes again dramatically. "For a million times, I wonder what Rachel sees in you."

Quinn raised an eyebrow in demand. "I am a bitch and get over it. Now spill it."

"Okay, okay." Kurt held up his hands in surrender. "Finn invited Rachel to tutor him AP calculus. He was trying to win the scholarship from Ohio State. If he failed the test or was kicked out of the team, he would never make it to college."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Of course, the giant baby would never make it anywhere, and, of course, there was only Rachel who was kind enough to tutor the retarded and not suspicious about his extended intention.

"Well, to be fair, he did come to you at first, but you turned him down," said Kurt.

"He asked me out," said Quinn with a disgusted face through gritted teeth.

* * *

Rachel was genuinely surprised and glad to see the blonde showed up at her door later that night.

She invited Quinn in and pulled her a glass of water in her cup with her signature beam. The beam was different from the one she used at the end of her performance in Glee or in front of other people. It was more sincere and reserved only for Quinn.

Quinn stared at those chocolate eyes carefully, trying to figure out certain emotions behind it. All she could see in those orbs was her, the girl who fell for her best friend and was too blind to realize it.

The emotion became too strong, and Quinn was desperate to let out.

When she searched crazily in her friend's chocolate eyes with understanding and patience, Quinn hesitated: what if they didn't work out?

Would Quinn lose her forever? Hell, what if she scared her? Would Quinn lose her instantaneously?

The fear of losing Rachel became so powerful that Quinn swore that she wanted to eliminate that possibility to zero.

Absolute zero.

Quinn smirked. A nerdy joke indeed, but Quinn would laugh and Rachel would laugh too.

Rachel broke the silence first. "I was tutoring Finn earlier today, and he asked me out…"

Quinn's heart dropped.

The brunette studied the blonde's reaction carefully. "I said no."

Quinn let out the breath that she was holding.

"But this incidence makes me wonder that I might add dating to my list."

Quinn knew well that Rachel had a list with all the things she planned to do before she reached 25 years old. She was planning on finishing every single one of them with Rachel, but maybe this time… she couldn't.

"I know I am not as perfect as you," said Rachel, playing with her fingers in her lap, which Quinn knew was a nervous sign of Rachel.

_No, no, no, you are perfect._

"And I was too ideal. I talk in paragraphs with big words and can be too bold and capricious. You are probably the only one that truly listens to me and understands me."

_That is adorable._

If Quinn was in her right mind, she would see the clue Rachel was giving her. However, she was not even close to her rightful status. She was in fact not only nervous but panicked for the first time in her life.

"So I am wondering… I am just saying that maybe…"

Quinn closed her eyes, feeling her hands go numb.

"Quinn, are you okay?" Rachel's voice started to fade away.

_Put yourself together, Fabray. You need to be there for her. If you love her, you need to make sure she is happy no matter what._

"Yes, of course," said Quinn with a tight smile, no better than making a face.

Rachel stopped talking, and she frowned. She was silent for a moment before she looked into Quinn's eyes again and flashed a smile toward her. "Never mind, Quinn. I can see how uncomfortable that is going to make you."

Quinn didn't know what to feel, so she just nodded. She sneaked a peek at Rachel and saw nothing unusual on her face, but there seems to be an ounce of sadness hidden behind that smile.

* * *

Monday came quickly, and the giant kept approaching Rachel between classes. There was nothing Quinn could do as Rachel expressed her interest in dating someone as a part of her life experience that would in the future become valuable to her career.

Later that day, Puck sang a song to Rachel and asked her to be his hot Jew, which Quinn nearly puked. Glee became the worst time of her life as she had to tolerate all these happened right in front of her.

When Rachel started to pin down the tallest boy or probably the slowest boy (maybe the fastest if you count other things) the next day in the hallway, Quinn made Finn her boyfriend and became the president of the Celibacy Club.

"Did you remember the question you asked yesterday?"

Finn looked confused. Quinn rolled her eyes. Of course, he didn't. For a moment, Quinn wondered how this boy became the golden boy in this high school, but maybe she could use the slowness of the boy to her advantages. "You asked me out."

The hall went silent. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Quinn mentally rolled her eyes.

"You may take me out for a dinner or something," said Quinn indifferently. More like an order.

Finn smiled sheepishly. "Sure, Quinn... I will..."

Quinn had lost her interest from the beginning. All she wanted to do was to walk a certain brunette to class, but the girl was nowhere to be found.

Quinn searched everywhere but only found a taller blonde with a frown.

Brittany looked confused. "But I thought Quinn was into Rach..."

"Sometimes you are too smart, Fabray, but sometimes you are blind." Santana shook her head in disapproval.

"Q, you need to get a pair of glasses if you are blind. Or maybe you should ask Rachel to move a little for you to see better," said Brittany.

Quinn was lost.

"Because she is the apple of your eyes."

Quinn swallowed.

* * *

The rest of the day went so slowly like torture.

The only thing that lightened up Quinn's world remained MIA, and even Kurt was avoiding her for some reason. Rumors went fast, and Sue had to give other girls on the team extra laps to stop the gossip. Rumors said that Quinn and Rachel were no longer friends because they were fighting over the same boy.

Quinn hated it and drove home in anger.

Her fingers were hanging over the text box with "My Star" for the hundred times for the last hour, but she couldn't hit the send button on the screen. Two girls on the background of the text box were smiling happily toward her, and it was hurt for Quinn to see the smile.

When her dad came upstairs and knocked at her door, Quinn almost dropped her phone.

"Dinner is ready, baby girl!"

"Yes, Daddy. I am coming."

Quinn was sitting at the dinner table and poked at the tomato in her plate when her dad was talking about how they finally found the perfect apartment at the midtown. Quinn almost cried.

Judy frowned and touched her husband's arm to stop him. "Quinnie, what's wrong?"

Quinn swallowed, "I was just thinking…that Stanford and UCLA are also good schools to go to."

Judy and Russell exchanged looks, silently communicating in an old-couple way. Quinn wondered when Rachel and she could do the same, and the sadness cut through her heart at the thought of the brunette.

"Oh, honey, what happened to your Columbia dream?" Judy asked in concern.

"Please, Q. I was counting on the Berry girl to tie you down to the east coast and our family tradition of Ivy League," Russel chipped in and made a face when he received a glare from his wife.

"Hi, we will always be here for you. You know that, don't you?" said Judy gently. Russel put down his fork and nodded, giving his full attention.

Quinn nervously glanced back and forth between her parents before taking a deep breath and stated in a small voice, "I have always realized that I like Rachel too much."

Judy reached out to hold her daughter's hand in support and stated in affection, "Sweetie, it is understandable. Rachel was adorable. Talented, optimistic, passionate, and "

"And keep you from being the from some cliché blonde cheerleader in a high school TV drama that everyone hates," Russel added, successfully winning him a light punch on the arm from his wife.

"I dare them," Quinn sneered.

"That's my baby girl!" Russel cheered. Judy narrowed her eyes dangerously at her husband who turned back to the 21-year-old frat boy when they first met.

Russel threw his hands up in surrender and shrugged, "Hi, my daughter is just looking for the Berry girl. You know how those kids are jealous of Berry's girl's talent. You got to have someone to look out for them in the town. We don't have Superman around Lima. Those superheroes are way too busy around New York."

Before Judy had time to give a lesson about the impropriation behind the logic, Quinn threw her hands up. "Okay, fine. I made a mistake. I asked a boy to take me out on a date as I was afraid that Rachel would turn me down and chase after the boy."

Russel opened his mouth and was about to say, but Judy effectively shut him by a firm glare. Russel pouted and started to poke his tomato in the plate, just like his daughter did before.

Judy almost rolled her eyes on her husband who demanded her attention, but she could only take one brat at a time.

"She recently came up to me and said she wanted to date before 25. And I panicked. I guess I wanted to ask her out to date as girlfriends before, but she said she wanted to wait until 25 to date. So I waited and waited. After being a loyal friend for too long and knowing well enough how amazing she is, it is impossible for me to open up about the relationship thing again and only to lose her after," said Quinn, feeling much better to finally let everything out.

"Wow, " Russel was in amaze how many words his daughter could finish in one breath. "I can clearly see the influence of Rachel on you now."

Before Judy had time to kicked him out to sleep on the couch tonight, Russel added quickly in a gentle voice, "Baby girl, you asked Rachel to marry you when you were 9, and Rachel said yes two weeks later. She was so serious when she announced the news to Leroy and Hiram that Leroy cried for a week and Hiram came to me for a fight."

Russel put one hand on Quinn's shoulder who was now in deep thoughts and turned around to wink at Judy who was evidently impressed by his speech.

"Do you know why she said she wanted to get married at 25?" asked Judy.

Quinn swallowed and shook her head.

"Because you said you wanted to go to graduate school after college when you were 14, and she was waiting for you to graduate before marrying you," Judy said with a tender smile. "You have always been a part of her future, you know."

Quinn's eyes lighted up again. She said "thank you" to her parents before quickly collecting herself and walking upstairs. In her room, she pulled out her phone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Russel was massaging Judy's shoulder on the couch downstairs and said under breath, "I will not let my own daughter ruin my deal with the **** broker."

After Judy smacked him on the arm, Russel pouted, "Hi, at least now you know for sure that your daughter is coming back to Ohio for Christmas."


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel dragged her body downstairs to answer the door, but what she didn't expect was a familiar blonde who was out of breath. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you having your stress-out eating?" That was the rice milk ice cream with a little soy milk that Quinn got her during the spring break at Columbus, and Quinn got her again as a birthday gift to surprise her as she was so addicted to it.

"I…" The brunette tried to hide the ice cream behind her back in a flash.

Quinn's heart broke a little when she spotted the puffy eyes of the brunette.

Rachel left her at the door and was about to retreat from the blonde. Quinn rushed to her side before stopped her at the stairs by a touch on her arm. Quinn mentally relieved when the brunette didn't flinch under her touch. "I couldn't do it. I dumped him! And I am sorry, Rach. I wasn't mean to take him as my boyfriend. I was just… I was stupid that I thought… I am just afraid that I would lose you, so I… I like you, only you. It was always and is and will be you."

Rachel sniffed, slowly taking this piece of information in. The next second, she launched forward and shut the blonde up effectively with her lips.

"Ummm" Quinn hummed contently against the brunette's lips, and Rachel only broke the kiss when she felt the other girl smiling against her lips. "What was that for?"

"Are you complaining?" Rachel raised her left eyebrow, definitely mastered the skill from her best friend who she just kissed.

Quinn smirked. "I can definitely live with that. "

When those pair of hazel eyes laid on her, panic kicked in. Rachel blushed, looking everywhere but Quinn. "That was my first kiss, so I don't know if it is good or…"

Rachel was cut off by one certain blonde's lips.

"You." Kiss. "Are." Kiss. "Adorable." Kiss.

"It is rude to interpret when others are talking," Rachel weakly protested with a pout.

"You said it was your first kiss, and practice makes perfect," Quinn argued with a smirk.

"Smartass." Rachel playfully rolled her eyes.

"You love my ass!" Quinn faked to be wounded.

Rachel kissed the pout away and pulled Quinn right into the room. "You are incurable."

"I am incurably falling for you," Quinn added naturally.

Quinn was rewarded by another kiss on her lips, and now she felt it was Christmas all over again. "So… will you be my girlfriend?"

Rachel kissed Quinn deeply before Quinn had time to register her sudden concern.

"Is that a yes?" Quinn asked through hooded eyes.

Rachel kissed Quinn again with more tongue involved. "This is a double yes!"

* * *

Quinn seriously thought Rachel was using "Finn" as the safe word to slow things down as they were teenagers who might move too quickly, especially when Rachel's dads were away for the night.

Rachel was running her hand over her hair to tame them down while she popped the question that completely wiped the smirk off Quinn's face. "So Finn was the special one?"

"Why do you ask so?" Quinn frowned at her girlfriend. Yeah, she is going to address Rachel like that from now on. _My GIRLFRIEND_.

"You gave up all the rules about focusing on study, cheerleading, and glee and being an independent woman with big dreams."

"I was not thinking straight you know. I told you it was never about him. It was about you and who might be a potential threat to steal you away from me." Quinn rolled her eyes, pretty sure the brunette had known the answer and just wanted to hear from her. "All those movies about how they might lose their best friend by confessing their love… you know. I just don't want to mess up what we had."

Rachel linked their hands back together, and Quinn automatically circled the tiny brunette in her embrace. "What's why they are movies. In reality, you marry your best friend."

Quinn scrunched her nose. "I can't live with Santana under the same roof without smothering her in her sleep."

Rachel laughed, which sounded like music to Quinn's ears, "Brittany made her more tolerable around people. They are made for each other."

Quinn dropped a kiss on the brunette's forehead, and they fell in comfortable silence.

* * *

"So when did you find you love me?"

Quinn made a face. She just knew this question was going to pop up sooner or later from the diva, but she didn't expect Rachel to change the subject so fast, not that the boy ever mattered.

Quinn eyed Rachel carefully, pondering her reaction while answering slowly. "Is it a little cliché to say I fall in love with you at first sight, and the fondness simply grows over time and blooms to love."

There are tears in the brunette's eyes, and Quinn panicked. She was about to freak out and was surprised to be pulled into another kiss.

"Crap, I am so gay for you, Quinn Fabray," Rachel murmured against her lips.

It's not every day that you could hear Rachel Berry swear.

Rachel frowned instantly at her own word choice, and Quinn reached out and to touch those cute eyebrows. "You are adorable when you do that."

Quinn didn't know she said it out loud until Rachel coughed slightly and changed the subject, "What are you thinking?"

"How much I want to kiss you?"

Rachel blushed and ducked her head in Quinn's neck. "I am being serious."

"I seriously want to kiss you all the time when you sing your heart out in Glee and when you lecture me in paragraphs. You have a big heart and a big dream, and that's why I fall for you hard."

"Speak for yourself." Rachel tilted her head to kiss on the blonde's lips soundly. "You for sure how to woo a girl over."

"You are the only girl that I have ever dreamed about."

Rachel smiled at the sincerity in her girlfriend's hazel eyes that she loved so much.

* * *

They ended up watching a TV show in the living room, and Quinn was chewing on cookies made by her girlfriend to distract her attention away from the brunette who found comfort in her arms.

"Wow, this is intense." Quinn covered Rachel's eyes when the blonde girl on TV slapped the brunette girl and had her hands batted away by the brunette sitting next to her.

They were watching a show about a choir club in a high school, very much like they had been through, but with more dramas.

"They are so gay for each other," Rachel concluded. Quinn silently asked her question with her raising eyebrow.

Rachel shrugged, "The metro pass. Ugh, can they be more obvious?"

"Why they always encounter in the bathroom?" Quinn wrinkled her nose and couldn't help but drop a kiss when Rachel leaned up to look at her.

"Be nice, Quinn. Not all lovebirds are as lucky as we are."

* * *

Monday came around pretty quickly.

Finn confronted Quinn about ditching him the night before through a text, and Quinn waved dismissively. When the boy was about to say something more, Sue popped out of nowhere and called Quinn over.

"Did you have ice cream over the weekend?" Sue eyed her cheerleader with suspicion.

Quinn hung her head in guilt, but Sue was bored and decided to make the conversation short.

To Quinn's surprise, Sue approved this relationship. "At least I don't need to worry about stupid and irresponsible teen pregnancy for my head cheerio. I might be old, but I am not blind. I saw all those love puppy eyes you sent to Berry during your practice, and that's why you never complained when I gave you extra laps."

Sue looked behind Quinn and continued her speech, but she was no longer addressing the blonde. "Be nice to her. Otherwise, I will burn the butt-chin and his glee club to ashes, I swear."

Quinn turned away just in time to catch the serious nod from the brunette and smiled at the sight of her beautiful girlfriend.

Sue walked passed the brunette and murmured something suspiciously like "finally" and "team Faberry".

* * *

Rachel was watching Quinn practicing in the field and lost in her own thoughts about the blonde. It still felt unreal that she could call the most popular girl in the school her own.

She cried the other night in Quinn's arms when the blonde on TV ran into a car accident on her way to the brunette's wedding, and she stopped Quinn from writing a letter to the director of that TV show.

She knew she was being unreasonable and emotional, but the blonde like always was there to hug her and to tell her everything would be okay.

Quinn calmed her down and made her become a better person, who listened and cared. She was never afraid to challenge the brunette but always in a way that would never hurt Rachel's feelings or ego.

Quinn kept her company, like force and matter, like a rosy cloud in a morning sky or a starry sky on a summer night.

She, too, would always be there to watch Quinn rise and to catch her if she falls, and Rachel would make sure to tell the blonde how beautiful she is, inside and out.

They were perfect for each other from the start, and, eventually, they both took a step forward and met in between.

Rachel didn't realize she was writing all these down as lyrics until a grinning blonde appeared in front of her, holding out one hand for her to take.

"Come on, don't want you to be late for your first class of the day. Allow me to have the honor to walk you to your class."

* * *

Rachel jumped onto Quinn with a letter in her hand before she noticed Judy and Russel were smiling fondly at them by the stairs.

Quinn released a brunette who struggled to touch the ground with a laugh and stole a kiss from the brunette before giving her girlfriend some time to be more presentable in front of her parents.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fabray, I apologize for such inappropriate behavior in front of you." Rachel smiled sweetly at both adults and her girlfriend.

Judy laughed. "Call us Judy and Russel like you used to, honey. We are fully awarded your relationship with Quinn, and we are happy to finally have you as our future daughter-in-law."

Russel simply looked at Judy and whispered, "Can I have that greeting from you too when I got home from walk too?"

"I got into NYU," Rachel announced the news and was wrapped in a group hug from the Fabrays.

"I got into Columbia." Quinn's voice kept low and warm, with a hint of excitement as she whispered in her girlfriend's ear.

Rachel then knew Quinn must have the result back for a while now as she applied early decision, but she kept the result to herself until Rachel shared her joy first.

Quinn was the girl who knew how to make yummy vegan dishes and marked Jewish festivals and traditions on her calendar. She tolerated her diva storm-outs and chased after her and to look after her. Quinn put Rachel before her and shielded her from danger, hurt, and insecurity.

Rachel could sense her love from the way she looked at her, staring at her with fondness and longingness. She could imagine see the blonde at her first opening of the very first show in college and even in Broadway.

Rachel could see her smiling at her and kissed her good morning and goodnight for the rest of her…

* * *

All those people who gave up their love and happily sent them to other people's arms in those love dramas were bullshit. Truly.

Every part of Quinn reminded Rachel how much she loved her. Every part of this town. Every piece of her memory screamed her love for Rachel.

Rachel wanted nothing more than to hold Quinn's hand and to tell her how much she loved her and how lucky she was to have Quinn as her girlfriend. So she did what she wanted as Rachel Berry always did.

"I love you, Quinn."

"Guess it's worth the wait."

Rachel playfully smacked the blonde.

* * *

_-6 months later-_

A door to an apartment in midtown New York opened, one brunette girl came in followed by a blonde girl, both dragging suitcases.

"Wow, I love the view!" exclaimed by Rachel, rushing to the window and checking out the view.

"And I love you." Quinn smiled softly, and her face lightened up more when she saw the brunette duck her head coyly.

They were unpacking things when Rachel saw a paper heart fall out of one of her boxes. It was a hand-made birthday card from Quinn, and Rachel picked it up before she noticed a few lines in delicate italic script.

Quinn turned around, just in time to catch her staring blankly at the paper heart and instantly recognized the birthday card she gave to the brunette. "Why did you carry all your stuff from fourteen?"

"Not just all my stuff," murmured Rachel, eyes fixed on the back of the paper heart. "It is all stuff that you sent to me since we were fourteen."

Quinn blushed a little, and the shade on her face turned darker when she heard the brunette start to read those lines on the back of the card out loud, "Your step is approaching, and you scant is invading. When have you arrived as a stunning shiny?"

"My hands are sweating, and my throat is tightening. Why do you have to be so breathtaking? Your eyes are twinkling, and your smile is alluring. Why do I find trouble swallowing my longing?"

"My head is spinning, and my heart is pumping. When shall I call you my lovely daring?" Quinn finished the line along with Rachel.

"If it is a regular high school TV show, it takes three seasons for you to finally confess your love," Rachel commented.

"Well, lucky you. If the show is popular, it might take six seasons." Quinn decided to play along.

"Hey, we could have easily been TOP you know?" Rachel said confidently with a beam.

"People would hate to see us fight and break up," Quinn agreed with a laugh.

Rachel's smile softened and said, "You know you are my angel, my lady?"

"Yes, I do," Quinn answered with a gentle kiss on Rachel's lips.

When you love someone, you started to doubt yourself. You stay strong for the other person, but you are also venerable when you are facing them. You desperately long for their love, but when they really do, you doubt because you always think you are imperfect. However, it is the other person who tells you that you are perfect every day with their looks, words, and actions to convince and to give you the courage for yourself and for you.


End file.
